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tv   Dateline NBC  NBC  October 5, 2009 3:00am-4:00am EDT

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such a surprise, because i felt i had been blessed with "resurrection blvd." and i said, well that's my, you know, quote unquote, "15 minutes of fame." i caught lightning in a bottle. i got to do that show. it was unique and historic and groundbreaking... and that was that. i have finally broken through from an anonymous actor to a recognizable face with a name, and it's "ugly betty" that's made that possible because they say it's tony plana from "ugly betty." it's that 30-year overnight success feeling. it's rocky marciano. it's somebody up there likes me. i mean i pinch myself every day. >> to give you an idea of how much tony plana has accomplished, the internet movie database lists more than 150 credits beneath his name. his debut in television came in 1978 with a guest appearance on the abc sitcom "what's happening!!"
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coming up, we'll look at the hispanic college fund. it's been helping young latinos pay for higher education for nearly two decades now. at last count, more than 4,000 students have gone beyond high school thanks to this fund. "hispanics today" will return in a moment. hi, may i help you? we're shopping for car insurance, and our friends said we should start here. good friends -- we compare our progressive direct rates apples to apples, against other top companies, to help you get the best price.
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how do you do that? with a touch of this button. can i try that? [ chuckles ] wow! good luck getting your remote back. it's all right -- i love this channel. shopping less and saving more. now, that's progressive. call or click today.
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>> welcome back to "hispanics today." in 1990, a letter to a magazine editor from a frustrated college student mobilized an entire army of corporate executives. that young hispanic student was in despair over not being able to afford college, and his letter must have struck quite a chord. it sparked the creation of the hispanic college fund just a few years later. today that fund has grown by leaps and bounds and shows no signs of slowing down. >> i remember when i got out of high school i was kind of worried--you know, how am i gonna pay for college? >> recent studies indicate some
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98% of hispanic high school students say they want to attend college but don't exactly know how they will pay for it. for many of these students, the failure to fulfill their dream of earning a degree could have a lifelong impact. >> if your family income is under $40,000 a year and you get into harvard, you don't pay any tuition. private schools offer a lot of funding. they all have foundations where they provide funding for poorer students. many universities are seeking to diversify their populations, and not just racially, but economically. this is a very, very useful ing for parents to understand. the money is there. don't give up. >> one of the things that we always tell students is focus on your writing skills and take the core math, science classes that you will need to go to college. spend some time on preparing for the s.a.t.s. it's very important for our
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students to be able to enroll in college and then be able to stay in college. >> many first-geration hispanic americans whose parents did not attend college are not often exposed or expected to pursue the next and most natural step in their education of getting a college degree. >> i came 5 years ago from cuba as a political refugee with my single mother and grandmother. when i came here to the united states, i didn't have any money at all. we didn't have any money, and i didn't know any word of english. we have definitely a positive, positive community who is willing to work, who is willing to succeed, to keep on going, to move on. and i'm the example of that community. i reflect that community who come here to struggle and work hard for a dream. >> in the spirit of the proverbial "actions speak louder than words," many hispanic grass roots organizations and corporations are doing their part. they are empowering
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students and developing real solutions and opportunities that span the education-to-career track. >> if that applies to you, if you agree with that quality... >> since its founding in 1993, the hispanic college fund, backed by community stakeholders and major corporations, has supported the education of more than 4,000 financially disadvantaged hispanic youth and awarded over $9 million in grants and scholarships. >> we want to be able to reward and award scholarships to our latino youth that are breaking barriers every day--every day. they're not joining gangs. they're getting 3.6 gpas. they are being leaders in their schools, and they are the future of this country. >> through its various programs, the hispanic college fund provides students with a vision, resources, and mentors that prepare them for successful careers and future leadership
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roles. their efforts are developing hispanic professionals and contributing to the strength and diversity of our future workforce. >> in my class of 200 students 10 of us went on to college. i am one of those 10. [applause] hispanic college fund really has helped me out with leadership. they also offer a lot of professional development. they have other programs such as "loft" program, latinos on the fast track, which means they don't just stop supporting you once you've completed your degree. they connue to move forward with you as you develop as a professional. >> corporations see a huge need in terms of filling the ranks of the retiring baby boomers, and the hispanic community offers an enormous number of young people at are very intelligent. they just need some guidance and some help. and our objective is to put the two together so that these students can not just get
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a scholarship, but get an internship in some kind of a corporation that will open their eyes to a career they have no conception of. >> where are you going to school? >> i go to penn state. >> oh, do you? >> yes, i do. >> good for you. we continue to offer all opportunities for people of all races and backgrounds, and they are making a continued contribution to our company, and our company is far better for it. we're in a global economy and we're in a very diverse economy, and so it's very important for us to embrace diversity because it's good business sense. >> i've discovered that everything works in connections. you can be the smartest person in your class, but if you don't know the right people, you're pretty much not going anywhere. so they have provided those connections, and they have explained to those people in those companies the value in us. >> i am so very happy that you're here. truly, it just makes my heart sing. thank you. >> for more information on the hispanic college fund, you can visit their website...
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and now for our "sabes que?" question. thanks in part to the hispanic college fund, a growing number of latinos are finishing high school and going on to college...and even beyond. sabes que? we'll have that answer coming up. and also just ahead, we'll show you how a barber in los angeles has been called a genius for his approach to helping young latinos develop a lifelong love of learning.
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>> welcome back to "hispanics today." here's the answer to our "sabes que?" question of the week. as of last year... sabes que? in 2006, accoing to the national council of laraza... that addresses the highest levels of education, but in the early years, there's also no shortage of efforts aimed at helping to keep ung hispanics in school. but one of the most successful approaches might well have started on a shoestring in a small los angeles barber shop. >> "inteligencia. intelligence," says socrates. "fuerza. strength..." >> the gaze of children's innocent eyes, and their undivided attention as they listen to him, feeds this man's soul. books are the fodation of ruben martinez's world, and reading them to children gives his life meaning. >> they give you life, they give
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you direction, they give you an appetite. they give you animo, they give you energy, and they want you to do things. words talk. >> an energetic and passionate man, rueben is the owner of libreria martinez, an independent bookstore in santa ana, california, dedicated to selling books in spani and promoting latino and chicano authors. a well-known community activist, he has become one of the most fervent advocates of children's literacy. that's why he felt compelled to also open a children's bookstore. >> you learn when you read. it's simple as that. almost every successful rson that i've met started reading at a very young age. >> every saturday, children flock to his bookstore to be part of "storytime"... but rueben doesn't just read, he gives children the opportunity to participate and that inclusiveness makes them want to return. >> they walk away a little more
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inspired to pick up a book when they leave here and listen to mr. martinez. they really listen to him. >> rueben switched careers in 1993 when he decided to open up his first bookstore, in his barber shop. yes, you heard right-- his barber shop! >> i have been a professional barber for 46 years now, and it's a very good profession. i sent all my kids to college. i liked it. >> his barber's chair is now in a back room, and only a handful of old-time clients have the privilege of getting a trim by the bookstore owner. >> now my life is literature, my life is books, my life is employing young people today giving them direction, and my life now is i'm very fortunate that i have audiences from grade schools, high schools, community colleges--which are my favorites--and universities across the united states. they let me talk about my life. >> and what a colorful life.
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rueben was born in the small mining town of miami, arizona. a restless child, he turned to books as an escape from a segregated school, corporal punishment for speaking spanish, and his family's poverty. as a teen, he knew he had to leave that all behind. >> i didn't want to be a miner. i wanted to see what color this world was. >> he moved to california in 1957, quickly becoming involved in political activism. at 19, he worked on john f. kennedy's presidential campaign. >> i couldn't vote. so what i did, i stood out there on whittier boulevard with a sign that said "i'm not old enough to vote. will you vote for me?" i worked in many campaigns for presidents for many years and also for governors of the state of california, for senators, assembly members councilmembers, school board representatives--which i think is one of the more important ones. >> he was also an organizer for
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one of his heroes, cesar chavez. >> the reason that i got involved in it, because i worked the fields, too. you know, coming from arizona, i picked cotton, did the cantaloupe, did the watermelons. and here in california, we chopped weed, you know, we did everything from oranges to peaches to strawberries to the grapes. i did all that. >> after many odd jobs, rueben found his calling as a barber. one day, he started lending books out of his barber shop and that led to the idea of opening a bookstore catering to latinos. but even that idea has evolved. >> we teach english at this bookstore, also. we have english classes for children and adults of all ages. right now, we're teaching 250 adults basic english so they can improve themselves and their positions at work. >> the bookstore has become a community connection
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where people not only buy books, but get guidance and advice, and rueben is more than willing to share it. interestingly enough, he points out most of his customers buy spanish-language self-help books, dispelling the notion that new immigrants don't want to improve their lives. but despite all his hard wk, libreria martinez struggles to survive in a business where big-name bookstore chains gobble up smaller competitors. >> but we haven't given up. the name of the game is not to give up under any circumstances. i listen to people. they give me advice. i take business classes. i talk aboutusiness. i give lectures on business. but you know what i do now more than anything else, at my age? i listen to my corazon. >> that commitment earned rueben a macarthur foundation genius grant for his exceptional work. the award is considered an investment in a talented individual whose originality and
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creativity offers great promise. it comes with a $500,000 stipend. >> a lot of the money was--came to...paying some of the existing bills that we had, and we had a lot of them because around that time, we were contemplating closing the business. but somebody's always looking out for you. >> and rueben tries to look out for others when it comes to education. he co-founded the latino book festival with edward james olmos 12 years ago and currently is involved in a literacy enrichment program that promotes reading, mentoring, and computer classes for children. >> and as i get older, there's more things that i want to do in this world. i have a lot of goals and a lot of dreams, and there's so much that i want to do. and sometimes i feel like i'm running out of time. maybe that's why he's constantly on the go. when he's not at his bookstore or out in the community, he's
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out seeing the world that he read so much about as a child. rueben martinez has come a long way from miami, arizona. >> libreria martinez has two locations in the los angeles area--one in santa ana and the other in lynwood. you can also take a virtual tour of the bookstores by going to the website... when we return, we'll have a preview of some of the stories our producers are working to bring you in future weeks. "hispanics today" will be right back.
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>> welcome back. here are some of the things you can expect to see in the upcoming shows: he was once the highest-ranking latino at the department of justice. today he is the brains behind the mexican-american legal defense fund. a profile of attorney and activist john trasvina. "hispanics today" will be right back.
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>> before we leave, we want to remind you of our website... from there, you can view past stories and keep up with current events. you can also share your feedback. if you have ideas or suggestions, we'd love to hear from you. either go to the website and click on the contact button, or e-mail us at... we'll see you again soon for another edition of "hispanics today." hasta la proxima vez.
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larger boys. >> reporter: jennifer is no longer with the guys. for months there would be specation about her whereabouts in the next four hours. where has jennifer gone? >> there's the big question.
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>> reporter: continuing josh's version of events, he and the three russians stumbled george to his cabin on deck nine. wn they see there's no jennifer, george chges his shirt and they all set out again to find her. it's now about 3:45 a.m. the posse of five had gone to the place tat the young people know onboard as the after hours hook up spot. >> they go to the jacuzzi and the solarium area, no jennifer. so it's five, ten minutes there, a very ort amount of time looking. it's obvious there is nobody else there. and then five, ten minutes back to the room. that puts them back to the room at 4:00 inhe morning. >> reporter: josh describes they ended that ght. >> when they got to the room with george the last time, they put him down in bed. josh is going to the bathroom using the bathroom. the other boys put him down on the bed, take his shoes off leave the room, good-bye, let's go. we're out of here. they go down to one of the russian boys' rooms and order an incredible amount of room
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service and sit room service shows up 4:30, 4:45 with the food. they eat. josh is back in bed by 5:15 that morning. >> reporter: but the veteran california police officer in the cabin next door had been awakened at 4:00 a.m. by a ruckus that's at odds with josh's account. threw through the common wall, he heard 15 minutes of loud voices and commotion that make him one of the best witnesses to the mysterious events in sate room 9062. >> that's when i heard what i describe as a horrific thud. >> reporter: and when the sun came that noisy cabin turned up empty. where were the newlyweds? >> we subsequently found mrs. smith. >> reporterand mr. smith? boss:hey, glad i caught you. i was on my way to present ideas about all the diounts we're offering. i've got some catchphrases that'll make these savings even more memorable.
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ñ3ñ"o2çóx?x? a newly married couple on a cruise has been seeing new sites and makingew friends. but after a night of partying with the friends, the groom was missing and outside there was a disturbing sight as one teenage passenger describes. >> on july 4th we got to see rkey. we woke up early in the morning.
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we went outside at 7:00 to look at the ocean. >> reporter: emily roush, the teenager from i will twoil decks below the honeymooners on seven, was looking forward to the day's exertion, a tour of the ruinsst ancient city. her brandnew digital camera would get a workout. but emily's first snapshot that day was this, just below her balcony, a blotchy stain several feet long on the almost 12 foot wide metal overhang protecting the lifeboat >> i noticed that there was this red bloodstain on it. and i didn't think it was blood at first. i thought -- i was hoping maybe it was paint or something else. >> reporter: the teenager remembers seeing what looked like thr bloody hand prints or footprints, though they're not distinct in her photo. a picture shesnapped on vague instinct. >> i took it probably out of curiosity. and i just thought maybe it would matter.
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>> reporter: she was wrightright. lynn martin steen says the ship security determined it was indeed a bloodstain and quickly surmized they may have a person overboard. >> we started focusing on the cabins directly above and narrowed it down to the smith's cabin. >> reporter: by abo 9:30 a.m. the ship's officers had determined this that one of the smiths was missing. >> security very, very carefully entered the cabin found no one ere. then we started the public address announcements. and we subsequently found mrs. smith. >> reporter: where was she? >> she what in the spa. we found her in the spa. >> reporter: found the bride but not the groom. the smith's cabin was sealed by security. guard posted outside until local turkish authorities could complete their investigation which by mid morning was under way. when cleat hyman, a deputy police chief from redlands, california, swiped his card to get back on ship after the long
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day's outing, the buzzer went off. two ships personnel flagged him. >> they approached me and told me they wanted to talk to me about mr. smith. >> reporter: his cabin was right next door to the smith's on nine. and what he says he heard through their common wall from a few minutes after 4:00 until 4:10 or so is a primary pece of information in the on going investigation into george smith's disappearance. >> a little after 4:00 in the morning, we were awakened by what i would call a loud cheering. simply like a college drinking game. this happened two different times. >> reporter: the deputy chief was awakened by what he thought were six loud voices at the exact same time that is josh's lawyer told the story george and his drinking buddies had returned from a fruitless search for jennifer who had gone missing. the chief then 31-year police veteran with a number of homicide investigations under i had belt reflexively noted the
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time, called the security office to complain about the noisy party and banged on the wall. all to no avail. after a couple minutes, we heard voices outside the door of the smith cabin. i don't recall pulling the door open. i assumed they were leaving the party. but that was just my impression at the time. >> reporter: for a few minutes, the next door cabin quieted down. male voices in normal conversation. the chief couldn't for the most part make outords or subjects. >> this went on for a period of time. and then we heard what sounded like arguing out on the balcony. >> reporter: arguing? >> yes. there were a couple male voices arguing. not a physical confrontation. it was just like they were arguing over some typef point. >> reporter: so after you heard the voices on the balcony part of the cabin, what happened next? >> well, then i heard a voice just repeatedly say good night. and my first assumption was that someone was trying to usher
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these people that were arguing out of the cabin. in fact, you could he the ression through the cabin. >> reporter: now it was about 4:15 in the morning. chief hyman heard the adjacent cabin dr open and voices receding in the hallway. >> so waiting for a couple of seconds and then opened the door and looked out. >> reporter: what did you see? >> i saw three younger males walking down the hallway. >> reporter: young males but only three of them leaving george's cabin. then through the wall chief hyman heard a single male voice moving about, speaking in a conversational tone, though oddly no one was replying. then there was more loud noise. >> it's what i would say sounded like furniture moving. like my -- again, my impression was, good they're cleaning up the room. >> reporter: whoever was next door the chief heard them moving between the cabin and the balcony. it was now approaching 4:20.
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>> and then for the last maybe couple of minutes it appeared to be concentrated out on the balcony area. the chairs on the balcony are metal. they make a different type of sound. i heard that noise and then there was silence. in fact, it got very quiet. i heard no voice. it was just very quiet. >> reporter: silent for how long? a couple minute >> yes, maybe three minutes approximately. and then at that point that's when i heard the -- what i describe as a horrific thud. >> reporter: tell me in detail. >> the first thought in my mind was somebody fell on the balcony. this because because it was the last place a heard anyone. however, i quickly dismissed that because the noise was just too loud. there was actually a reverberation to the noise. and somebody just falling off their feet or something on a balcony would not cause that much noise. >> reporter: unbeknownst to him,
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pat and gr lawyer on the other side of the smiths had been awakened not by the noise from the cabin about it three soft male voices, two of them accented in the hallway before the commotion all started. they heard the cabin door open. i figured that this young man was drunk or intoxicated and they were calmly bringing him back to his room. in my mind there was a young person who was saying settle down. calm down george. >> reporter: pat and greg on almost exactly the same time line just after 4:00 a.m. didn't hear what cleat hym thought was a drinking game. but they did hear that same moving about of furniture. the police officer read it as the room being noisily put back in order. pat and greg heard violence, a ro they thought was being trashed. >> and then all of a sudden, there was a lot of noise coming from the cabin next door the george smith cabin. and what it sounds to me like is somebody was throwing things against the wall, like throwing
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furniture in the room against the wall or against the floor. >> i kept saying to my husband what in the world is he doing there? and i did use the term he. i didn't use the term they. because we did not hear any voices. >> reporter: and these were maybe a series of shuffles and bangs against the wall. and then it ended with one big thud like somebody had picked up the couch or the sofa and threw it against the wall. and then that occurred it was maybe a stretch of, like two minutes something like that where these thuds took place a series of thudz. what i call trashing the room. and then it went quiet. >> reporter: after the awful thud, both the deputy chief and the couple heard a knock knock knock, two sets of wraps on the smith cabin door at 4:30. greg lawyer curious opened the door to see two uniformed ship personnel standing outside the smith cabin. >> i looked at him. i said hey, you better get in there. that room is trashed.
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then they gave me the hi sign. >> reporter: the cruise line confirms they were ship security officers responding to the noise complaint. with the offendg loud party parentally now over royal caribbean says the uniformed men left without entering the smith cabin. chief hyman and his wife could finally get some peace and quiet and a few hours sleep. at 7:00 a.m., the chief went out on his balcony to take some snapshots of the turkish port and peeked around the partition to the smith cabin next door. he saw cigarette butts the metal chairs and coffee table moved. >> i noticed that the drapes had been pulled back. that was allowing me to see in. and that the bed appeared to have been slept in, the sheets had been -- were in disarray. >> reporter: did you notice if the furniture had been moved around? >> i couldn't s th far into the room. >> reporter: he didn't look down from the balcony or he might have seen emily raushoush at that
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very moment photographing a bloodstain. a picture she showed to her mother later that afternoon. the image would jog a sleepy memory in her mom. >> she remembered hearing a scream late in the ddle of the night that night too. and we put it together. and we thought this might be something that might be happening, this might be bad. >> reporter: someone reported a scream. did you hear it? >> never. >> reporter: the policeman who wanted nothing more than a relaxing cruise around the mediterranean with his family found work following him. a mystery right next door and he had crucial details. that night before dinner the ship's captain announced that there had been a tragic accident. a guest had appartly fallen overboard. the chief and so many of the other guests wondered as wild rumor and sick lags swept every nook and cranny of the ship. buzz about missing money blood found in the cabin. >> this could be an accident, a suicide, or foul play. i don't have enough of the facts
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to formulate an opinion which it is. >> reporter: jennifer, josh, and the three russians would be interrogated. how was that george smithell to a terrible and cerin dth in the sea between greece and turkey? or was it a fal? coming up when questioned by authorities, young josh has something to say about the bride and that casino manager. >> i'm not letting her go to jail. >> reporter: the morning after. when "disappearance before dawn" continues.
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ñ3ñ"o2çóx?x? the thud heard by several passengers on july 5th and the bldstain beneath smith's balcony cabin answered the question of what happened to the yong honeymooner but now how. lynn martinsteen was a spokesman at the time. >> we started notifying proper authorities. in this case, it was the fbi and erican consolate because we were dealg with an american citizen. it w the turkish ahorities because we had just docked in a
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turkish port. >> reporter: while most of the ship's passengers departed for a day tour of an inkancient city they gan processing the honeymooner's cabin as you would a crime scene. >> they took sample. they took photographs. they dusted for fingerprints. they did it there for a forensic investigation both of the cabin and of the metal overhang. they spent the better part of the day on the ship. our understanding is that the turkish authorities turned over anything they had found in that cab to the fbi. >> reporter: by 6:00 p.m. that night, the blostain on the overhang was cleaned and according to some passengers, painted er. the turkish investigation on the ship was concluded. on that same day because they were some of the last people known to have been seen with george both turkish authorities and the ship's officers questioned jennifer, josh and the russian boys about what had happened just hours before.
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jennifer, according to the cruise le spokesperson gave the statement to the rks i the presence of an i reprentative an was then flown home to the u.s. josh's statement is the only one we know about in detail. that's because his mother and father sneaked a home video camera to their son's appearance before turkish authorities on shore. and those bootleg pictures capture a chaotic initial inquiry. josh is being asked here to set down a chronology of what he did and saw. d then sign a statement when it is typed up. >> he was very drunk. >> yeah. >> this is the same story. >> reporter: were george and ennifer ving a fight? no, they were happy, he replied. he tells an abbreviated fashion the story you already heard. getting george to the room, sing his bathroom, good night. >> i hd good night. i didn't see if he was laying on the bed or not.
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they are msing a wholeuge part. >> what happened? >> that's all they want to know. they don't want to know what happened. all they wa to kow is the last time you saw him. >> reporter: josh signs the statement about what he knew and after the initial business is over, makes a point of defending jennifer and implicating the casino manager. >> she has no idea what happened. she was with another man. it was the casino manager. i'm not letting her goto jail. i'm not letting her go to jail. >> calm down. >> reporter: after suggesting that the bride and ka seen yes manager had lefthe bar together, josh is dismissed and returned to the ship with his family. it had been josh's second questioningf the mornig. the young man's lawyer says that earlier even before the meeting ith turkish authorities, josh's
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electronic swipe card set off a buzzer when he tried to leave the ship with his family. ship's personnel escorted josh to guest services where he saw jennifer for the first time since leaving the disco bar about, six hours before. are what does he notice about jennifer? >she is wearing the same dress she was wearing the night before. she is distraught. and she at some point in the timing they mention tha there is a question where is george? and jennifer sayso josh you know, what happened? i blacked out. i don't remember anythg after the casino. >> reporter: she drank too much and passed out >> blacked out. >> reporter: memories may be fuzzy but investigators now the fbi have a very crisp rcord of some of the things that happened on the ship. in addition to the electronic room keys documenting down to the second when and where a cabin door is opened, guests on the brilliance of the sea may be unaware that ship has severa hundred secity cameras continuously recording virtually every public area onboard.
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the cruise lineas turned over more than 90 of the tapes to the fbi. >> there is an on going investigation. it wouldn't be appropriate for me to coent ohat's on the tes. >> reporter: without ying exactly how it knows it the cruise line claimshat ka seen yes manager josh rais suspicions about actuly a manager trainee and the other employee drinking with them, a casino aler, each went to their separate cabins at 3:15 a.m. and jennifer was with neither man. after our interview, the cruise line vp added anothe detail abo jennifer. she allegedly left the disco bar alone at about 3:20. and a custodiann that deck thought she was wobbly and needed help. the custodian rode down with her to the cabin deck leve she told him she w fine and went on her way. but to where? in january 2006 when the cruise line issued a time line of events, we finally found out.
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after being escorted to deck nine where her cabin was jennifer apparently got disoriented and was found about an hour later by ahip security guard sleeping on the floor of a corridor. just before 5:0 a.m., guards took jennifer by wheelchair back to the cabin where they did not see her husband george nor anything amiss in the room. >> blood could run this way. you know the motion of the ship tipping. >> reporter: when we come back one of the fbi's most season former special agents looks at the case, the time line, the contradictions the same evidence you now heard. what will clint van zandt make of the disappearance of george smith? >> i don't think anyone can exclude foul py at this point. show and tell you weren't always my favorite day. with all the pet hair in the air i'd spend class preoccupied,
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ñ3ñ"o2çóx?x? and says a very tragic accident or is this a homicide? >> reporter: george smith went overboard. there's no doubt about that. and even though it happened in the registered ship, for the last four years the case is handled by the fbi bureau in new haven, connecticut, the lost man's home state. >> what we need to realize is that if the bureau cam to the point where they felt strongly it was an accident it would close their case. >> reporter: clint van zandt was with the fbi for 25 years. supervisor and profiler with the now famous behavioral science
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group nicknamed the silence of the lambs unit. "dateline" asked van zandt to look at the public record of evidence in the george smith case. >> firstin a case like this you've got to go in and say well, what happened? we have a missing person. okay. if he's gone is it a homicide? is it a suicide? is it an accident? >> reporter: what about an accident? both witnesses either side the smith cabin noticed one of the metal balcony chairs was turned around so that its back was near the four foot tallly george smith perch on the balco rail for a last cigarette? >> i put the chair up the balcoy. i sit up on the edge. i have a cigarette, the ship hits a bump o something and i go over the side. we can't say that didn't happen because we don't have the body to get the forensics from. so i cannot at all discount the idea of an accident. >> reporter: the former fbi man elimites suicide right away
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since there is nothing that he sees in george smith's backound to remotely suggest it. >> we get homicide and accident. we take the legal pad. we draw a line down the middle. then we start to build a case on either side and see which one can we support with the evidence? >> reporter: we looked at each bit of evidence in turn, starting with the photo of the bloodstain. >> you look at this cture here. you see tis point right here. that looks like that was pulling blood. this is ten feet wide here. if a human body fell here if, this is evidence perhaps of a head injury -- >> reporter: a bleeding injury? >> bleeding where there was continued bleeding. it could be blo that had been contaminatedith water sea spray, something like that that made it spread out like this. perhaps george smith by whatever means went over the balco two floors down and crashes on top this metal awning. he lay there's for a while. he is already bleeding. he bleeds out a little bit. and then he starts to crawl. does he pick himself up?
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does he zig when he sou have zaged? or does someone come up on the body and help it over the side? >> reporter: does this picture tell you i'm a victim of an accident? i'm a victim of foul play? >> don't we wish. >> reporter: since the bloodstain doesn't tell the full story that makes the statemen by witnesses all that more important. here not eyewitnesses so muc as ear witnesses. the two sets of people in the cabins on either sid of the smiths starting with the deputy police chief hyman. >> in this particular ca this is a cop leaning forward in the saddle and said what is going n? >> i saw three younger males walking down the hallway. >> reporter: walk ago way from you? >> that's correct. >> reporter: assuming the three people had just come from george's room, van zandt thinks that could be important for the foul play theory. remember, they had been a group of five. >> four is a posse plus george five, three out the door george is still there. where is the other person and
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who is that? somewhere in between is the story of that fourth person. >> reporter: but the attorney for one of the russian boys now says cleat hyman's recollection is wrong. he insists all four boys left george's room together which would mean there is no fourth person left to account for. sll, something else in the police officer's recollection intrigues van zandt. the business about a lone voice in the cabin. >> the challenge here is this single voice. is this this alleged highly intoxicated man talking to himself? or is this perhaps, george smith laid out on the bed and this other person is still in the room of this group of four, one is still there. >> reporter: the chief hear that's voice moving. >> up moving around, opening and closing cabinet doors. what would george smith be looking for if he's opening a closing cabinet doors moving furniture? what would somebody else be
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looking for. >> reporter: likewise they think the couple through the other cabin wall, pat and gg's description is an important clue. >> what it sounds to me like is somebody was throwing things agait the wall, like throwng furniture in the room against the wall or against the floor. >> this is not just le's scoot a chair across the floor. thi isbanging. this is moving. this is draggig. this is sometng that has to reverberate against the wall make that kind of sound. purely speculation. >> reporter: what the couple hears, what they regard as this violent moving about of furniture, it could be a phsical fight? could it be guys exchaing blows and throwing one another around the room? >> what we're missing is why you are doing this to me? don't hit m agai you know good so and so. we're missing the profanity that might normally being company this type of fight. it doesn't mean it didn't happen. and it may mean that one person was simply notapable of talking. >> reporter: as for the three russian boys and josh, their
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attorneys have saidtheir cents did nothingrong and unfairly living under a cloud of suspicion. keep in mind fbi investigators have many more ibt viewsnteiews and forensicvidencehat we taed about with clint van zandt. inhe meantime the case and the controversy surrounding it are far from over. five months after george smith's mysterious death jennife smith broke her silencebout her husband's last daalive. >> wead this very romantic dier. and we were just, you know, toastingo the future to our future life. and just say, god we're the two luckiest kids in the world. we kept saying that. >> repoer: but she said she coun't reveal much about the critical hours in question the night her husband dappeared. >> my nber one priority, and i'm goin to say this again and again, is st you know, do what the fbi told me and
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basically, y kno there is nohing that i'm going to sort of release that happened toe that night. i'm excited in the future t talk openly and freely. becau that means the fbi lved their se. >> reporter: thatasn hapened yet. the fbi's case remains open and unsolved four years after george smth went overboard. which us from straits which us from straits george's parents because they believe their son was a victim of a crime. mr. and mrs. smith, accident or murder? >> it's murt. >> reporter: you say without any his tansy. >> there's no doubt. one we heard exactly about the blood and about the way he fell on to the overhang and the way he fell on to the overhang, it wasn't like he fell overboard. it was like you were dumped overboard. reporter: and now the smiths areattling their former daughter-in-law in cour after jennifer reached a mlion dollar settlement with royal caribbean in 00
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the smith's aimed she settled too cheaply. and gave up chances to get more information out of the cruise line that could potentially solve the se. the smiths are now trying to get that settlement overturned and have jenner removed at the executor of geoe's estate. just the latest sad chapr of marriag that lasted only 11 days. the tragic voyage of mr. and mrs. smith. a trial is scheduled for next year to determine if the settlement jennifer smith reached with royal caribbean there be thrown out and if she'll be removed as the executor of george smith's estate. and jennifer moved on with her life in other ways.
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